Crumbs from the Table of the Word - to sustain us for the week to come.
4th Sunday of Easter
Today is known as ‘Good Shepherd Sunday’ when the words of Jesus reassure those who come to know him that they “will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture”. If they listen to his voice as he calls each by name he will lead them out where no fear or terror can affect them and not one person will be lost that has been given to him. He tells us “I am the door”, the only way through which subsequent shepherds must pass in order to take up the mantle of ministering to Christ’s flock in each generation.
We are all meant to follow Christ as our true shepherd, each in their own way, but the particular quality of a priest’s life, the one aspect that makes his relationship with Christ unique, lies in the gift given to some to have a built-in solicitude for the welfare of others. It is in this caring for the physical, psychological and spiritual wellbeing of others that those who devote themselves to the community in this particular way become more fully the person they are meant to be. They truly come to understand what Jesus means when he proclaims “I have come so that you may have Life and have it to the full”.